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Real Life (episode)
The Doctor deals with the holographic "family" he created; Voyager investigates massive subspace distortions. Summary Teaser The setting is a modern Human home where everything is spotlessly clean and neatly arranged. Charlene, Jeffrey, and Belle hurry downstairs in unison and line up next to the front door. There is almost a Stepford Wives feeling as Charlene checks that her children's fingernails are clean and their shoes polished. Belle asks to greet her father first because she thinks Jeffrey always gets the honor, but Jeffrey reminds Belle that she went first yesterday. Charlene cheerily tells the children to get along. Politely, Jeffrey apologizes to Belle, who concedes that it is Jeffrey's turn. Charlene seems excited and the three of them stand at attention as the man of the house approaches. The Doctor turns a corner, a cup of coffee in one hand and a briefcase in the other, and compliments Charlene on the quality of the coffee. Charlene tells him she replicated a new blend from Paxor III and she seems pleased to hear he enjoyed it. The Doctor kisses her on the cheek and informs her he will be home at the usual time. Everything seems to be in order as Charlene reminds her husband not to overwork himself, Jeffrey promises to have his homework done by the time the Doctor returns from work, and Belle assures the Doctor she will receive an A on her history test. She adds that she'd like to do some algebra problems with him if he has the time. Finally, Charlene reminds the Doctor to invite some of his friends from work for dinner, as she wants to meet them before she and the children say goodbye to the Doctor. In sickbay, Kes stands at a terminal as the Doctor materializes, a satisfied look upon his face. Kes asks what the Doctor's new holo-family is like, and he confidently informs her it is everything he could have hoped for. Act One :"Captain's log, stardate 50836.2. We're had long-range communications with a seemingly friendly race known as the Vostigye. We'll be rendezvousing within the hour at one of their space stations." When ''Voyager'' reaches the rendezvous where it was scheduled to meet with the Vostigye, the crew finds nothing but debris and all sixty Vostigye scientists appear to have died. There is evidence of energy discharges, although it is possible the assailants used non-traditional weapons. Ensign Kim notes a strange subspace signal leading away from the station, so Captain Janeway decides to follow it. The Doctor sits in sickbay with Lieutenant Torres, who has just performed a diagnostic to ensure that his recent tinkering with his program doesn't interfere with his systems. The Doctor and Kes tell B'Elanna of his new holographic family, which he found surprisingly easy to manage despite what he has heard about families being difficult. Both B'Elanna and Kes express interest in meeting his new family, so he invites them over for dinner. At dinner, the Stepford Wives mentality continues as Charlene informs B'Elanna and Kes that she took a course in continental cuisine so she could replicate new and interesting foods for Kenneth (the Doctor's name in the program). Kes tries to be polite and goes along with the program, but B'Elanna grows increasingly impatient as the conversation continues. When Charlene, Belle, and Jeffrey cheerily describe Kenneth as the best husband and father in the quadrant, B'Elanna stops the program. The Doctor is confused, as he sees nothing wrong with the program, but B'Elanna informs him that his family is nothing like a real family. Describing the Doctor's wife and children as "lollipops," she explains that he won't learn anything from spending time in a fantasy world with a perfect family. However, she offers to help him make them more realistic. Meanwhile, Tom Paris announces that the signal Voyager has been following has thinned out. There are no signs of starships or lifesigns, but there is an increasingly large subspace disruption, so Janeway puts the ship on red alert. A massive energy wave anomaly emerges from subspace as Voyager attempts to back away. Act Two The anomaly emits some sort of shockwave and bears down on Voyager as Paris announces that the ship's engines have failed. Janeway and the rest of the crew brace for impact and arm the ship's phasers only to see the anomaly disappear seconds later. The crew is in shock until Commander Chakotay speaks up. "I'm not afraid to say it," he says in his normal capacity as master of the obvious. "I've never seen anything like that before." Once the anomaly has dissipated, Janeway decides to investigate it further. Chakotay informs her that according to his readings it was an astral eddy that formed at the confluence of space and subspace. They prepare to anticipate the next such occurrance. Back in sickbay, Kes seems cautious about the randomized behavioral algorithms that B'Elanna has added to the Doctor's family program. However, he doesn't anticipate any problems he can't handle, as he has been programmed with a full database of pediatric care and childhood development and has experience with "romantic relationships." He is due home for dinner shortly and transfers himself to the holodeck. Upon entering his holographic home, the Doctor finds his home disorganized with things lying around everywhere, no one to greet him at the door, and a strange series of bangs and other sounds that resemble music (Klingon music) coming from elsewhere in the house. Charlene is in a hurry to go somewhere and seems less than interested in his usual stories about his day at work. She is set to speak at the Tholian embassy, and he learns that it is his turn to cook. Belle yells from her room that she can't find her mallet and Charlene tells her she would have better luck if she cleaned her room. After Charlene leaves, the Doctor attempts to be reasonable with Belle, explaining she would know where it was if she put it in her closet. She whines as she searches the house frantically, late for practice, but they can agree that the music is too loud. The Doctor tells Jeffrey to turn it off, and he all but ignores his father. Two Klingon adolescents, Larg and K'Kath, knock on the door and rudely ask where Jeffrey is; when the Doctor tells them Jeffrey is doing homework and can't see friends, Jeffrey emerges and says something to Larg and K'Kath in Klingonese. They simply walk past the Doctor while he attempts to deal with the temperamental Belle. The Klingons upstairs and Belle in tears, the Doctor realizes how different real life is. Act Three Act Four Act Five Memorable Quotes "Well, we're proud of him too. In fact, we think we have just about the most wonderful husband and father in the quadrant." "Yes, we d..." "Computer, freeze program." "Lieutenant? What are you doing?" "I'm stopping this before my blood-sugar levels overload." : - Charlene, Jeffrey and Belle, Torres, and the Doctor "No one has a ''family like this – this is a fantasy! You're not going to learn anything from living with these... lollipops." : - '''B'Elanna Torres', to the Doctor "You're in fine physical shape, Mr. Paris. You may go ahead and engage in this... reckless activity." : - The Doctor, to Tom Paris "What's this mean about no Klingon friends?" "Exactly that. They're a bad influence on you. They're prone to violence, they keep you out til all hours... Why don't you find some nice Vulcan friends?" : - Jeffrey and the Doctor "You created that program so you could experience what it's like to have a family. The good times and the bad. You can't have one without the other." "I fail to see why not." "Think about what's happened to us here aboard ''Voyager. Everyone left people behind, and everyone suffered a loss. But look how it's brought us all closer together. We found support here, and we've become a family, in part because of the pain we share. If you turn your back on this program, you'll always be stuck at this point. You'll never have the chance to say goodbye to your daughter. Or to be there for your wife and son when they need you. And you'll be cheating yourself out of their love and support. In the long run, you'll miss the whole point of what it means to have a family." : - '''Paris' and the Doctor Background Information *Torres' desire to check The Doctor's systems after his recent "tinkering" is likely due to the events of "Darkling," when similar tinkering to better his personality turned him into a murderer. *Beginning in this episode's opening credits, Roxann Biggs-Dawson has shortened her name to Roxann Dawson. *Lindsey Haun, who played Belle, previously played Beatrice Burleigh in "Learning Curve" and "Persistence of Vision." Links and References Guest Stars *Wendy Schaal as Charlene *Glenn Harris as Jeffrey *Lindsey Haun as Belle Co-Stars *Stephen Ralston as Larg *Chad Haywood as K'Kath *Tarik Ergin as Ayala (uncredited) *Sue Henley as Ensign Brooks (uncredited) References 47, ''Cochrane'', d'k tahg, The Doctor, Doctor's Family Program Beta-Rho, Klingon, Klingon music, lectrazine, mevak, Parrises squares, Parsons, Michael, Rite of Ascension, type-9 shuttlecraft, Vostigye, Vulky Category:VOY episodes de:Das wirkliche Leben nl:Real Life